(ATR) The creative team of the 2012 Paralympic closing ceremonydescribes the event as a "concert about festivals" centered around theextinguishing of Olympic Flame .
"There is no narrative," artistic director Kim Gavin said.
"It’s a very simple procedure. We are coming together to celebrate the flame going out. The only narrative we’ve got here is we take us through the seasons to the Coldplay music. It’s not just a concert, we’re not just looking at Coldplay. We’ve got fantastic visuals and amazing stunts."
Gavin declined to unveil performance secrets on how Coldplay’s music will lead the performance but he said "travelers will storm the stage" after the band begin their performance about 30 minutes in to the show.
There were few specific details Gavin would discuss, but he did say the opening will be a tribute to Britain’s armed service members who will unveil the Union Jack. The show is expected to be a little less than three hours in length, with a scheduled ending before 11:00 PM.
"The whole night is a celebration that the flame will finally go out in London 2012," Gavin added.
"We hope the show will take you somewhere new."
"We wanted to give a show the world would love and adore. I wanted it to feel less spangly, more raw, more flame and more about people and their performances.
Classification, Development of Paralympics Tops for IPC Athletes Council
Improving classification for Paralympic athletes and growth of the movement are the top priorities for the new IPC Athletes Council.
"The primary issue I see is in classification and building a more robust classification system and to continue to develop our sports," said Bob Balk, Council Chairman at the announcement of the six members elected to the body during the Games. "We have a lot of sports atvarious levels of development and continue to improve that getting to have athletes’ input into that progress."
Newly-elected member Jon McCullough, a seven-a-side football athlete from the United States said ensuring the council earns recognition is another important task.
"Getting the opportunity to talk to a lot of countries here, there is an emphasis on our leadership to be visible and to be more receptive so those voices are heard and that’s something that is a challenge for us as we move forward."
Yu Chui Yee, a wheelchair fencer from Hong Kong said the new members will have to capitalize on their new fame when they return home to promote the Paralympics.
Joining McCullough and Yu are Arnaud Assoumani, a French athlete; Gizem Girismen, an archer from Turkey; Teresa Perales, a swimmer from Spain and Elvira Stinissen a sitting volleyball player from the Netherlands.
A total of 1970 athletes voted, about 46 percent of all Paralympians according to Balk. There were 13 candidates.
Six summer Paralympic athletes are elected to the council each Games, joining three winter Paralympians, one IOC representative and three "coopted members."
The Paralympic Games are very fantastic. We have been working so hard for qualification. When we go back home we will use our experience
Paralympic Future
LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe was asked by reporters how the Paralympic Movement could sustain the enthusiasm seen in London, the Games chairman said the onus is on reporters.
"The future of Paralympic sport lies on the people in this room," he said at the joint LOCOG/IPC briefing. "Absolutely, no doubt about it."
He noted with dismay how British sports sections are already shifting attention away from the Games with two days left of competition. An England versus Moldova football match was the lead story in many papers.
"That relegation happened too quickly last night," Coe said.
Spectator Numbers
Total attendance for Friday was 231, 000 across all venues, Olympic Park had 177,000 and the ExCeL Centre had 21,000.
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